General Information

OIT has established an RSS feed of the Service Updates web page. By entering the Service Updates RSS information into an RSS enabled browser or e-mail client users can obtain the latest information on upcoming maintenance and current outages of major OIT supported services.

Note: for information on past Service Updates, please visit: http://www.oit.duke.edu/helpdesk/service/history.php

What is RSS?

The technology of RSS allows Internet users to subscribe to websites that have provided RSS feeds; these are typically sites that change or add content regularly. To use this technology, site owners create or obtain specialized software which, in the machine-readable XML format, presents new articles in a list, giving a line or two of each article and a link to the full article or post. Unlike subscriptions to many printed newspapers and magazines, most RSS subscriptions are free. The RSS formats provide web content or summaries of web content together with links to the full versions of the content, and other meta-data. This information is delivered as an XML file called RSS feed, webfeed, RSS stream, or RSS channel. In addition to facilitating syndication, RSS allows a website's frequent readers to track updates on the site using an aggregator. Definition provided by Wikipedia - the Free Encyclopedia

Use one of the following supported RSS readers:

Firefox

1. Visit www.oit.duke.edu/helpdesk
2. Click on the orange icon at the far right hand side of the address bar.
3. Select the Subscribe Now button on the next page.
4. In the Add Live Bookmark window, enter Service Updates in the Name field and select OK.
5. To view Service Updates, select Bookmarks - Service Updates or the link will be added below the address bar.

Thunderbird

1. Select Tools - Account Settings
2. In the Account Settings window, select RSS Feeds. If you do not have a listing for RSS Feeds, select Add Account. In the New Account Setup window select RSS News and Blogs, select Next. Enter RSS Feeds as the Account Name, select Next. Select Finish.
3. In the RSS Account Settings window, select the Manage Subscriptions button
4. In the RSS Subscriptions box, select Add
5. In the News Feed properties box, in the Feed URL space enter http://www.oit.duke.edu/helpdesk/service/rss.php
6. Select OK
7. To view the Service Updates feed, visit the Folders column within Thunderbird, expand the RSS Feeds listing, and select Service Updates.

Safari 2.0 or greater

1. Visit www.oit.duke.edu/helpdesk
2. Click on the RSS botton on the far right side of the web address window in Safari.
3. That will take you to http://www.oit.duke.edu/helpdesk/service/rss.php and display the latest Service Updates. A Service Updates bookmark is also added to the Bookmarks Toolbar. If the bookmark is not added, select Bookmarks - Add Bookmark.
4. To view the Service Updates RSS feed, either select the Service Updates bookmark from the Bookmarks Toolbar, or select Bookmarks - Bookmarks Toolbar - Service Updates or Bookmarks - Bookmarks Toolbar - View All RSS Articles.

DukePass (students only)

A channel is located under the News tab of DukePass (dukepass.duke.edu)

Or you can create a new channel for the Service Updates RSS feed:

1. After logging into DukePass, select Customize near the upper right hand corner.
2. Within the Customize window, select the Tab to where you would like to place the Service Updates RSS feed channel (we recommend either Main or News). Do not select the tabs you would use during normal viewing of DukePass, use the tool bar within the Customize screen that lists the tab headings with directional arrows.
3. Select Add Channel where you would like to add the Service Updates RSS feed channel within the tab you previously selected in Step 2.
4. After selecting Add Channel, select News from the Select a category pull down menu and press Go.
5. From the Select a channel pull down menu, select Generic RSS and press the Add Channel button. This will take you back to the Customize window.
6. Exit the Customize window by selecting the tab that you would select during normal viewing of DukePass. Ensure you select the corresponding tab (Main or News) that you created the new channel for in step 2.
7. You should see a channel labeled Generic RSS. Click the To configure an RSS feed, click here to enter the URL for the feed within that window. In the Enter the URL for the RSS feed box, enter http://www.oit.duke.edu/helpdesk/service/rss.php
and select the submit button.

Aggregator

If you already have an aggregator subscribe to the feed here

Help

For assistance with RSS feeds, please contact the OIT Help Desk at 684-2200 or submit a help request online.